


Search and Rescue

by Yamx



Series: Those We Love the Best [15]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Multi, OT3, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-13
Updated: 2010-04-13
Packaged: 2017-10-21 13:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/225859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yamx/pseuds/Yamx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Worried about the comatose Doctor, Jack makes a dangerous choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Search and Rescue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Juliet316](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juliet316/gifts).



> Written for Juliet316, who bid on me in the _Support Stacie Auction_. Prompt: Nine/Rose/Jack, vigil over a comatose Time Lord.

Rose twists her hands into the front of her hoodie. "D'you think this is normal?"

Jack's smile is confident – a little too confident. "Of course it is. He said he'd be in that healing trance for a while, didn't he?" He strokes a hand along the Doctor's jawline. Both blokes look pale, even in the warm light of the TARDIS medbay.

"Well, yes, but…" Rose checks her phone. "It's been twelve hours!"

"Since he got bitten. Only ten or so he's been in the trance." Jack's tone is less steady than his words.

"What if it's not working?" Rose takes one of the Doctor's hands and kisses his palm. "What if he's dying?" Her voice and her heart almost break on the last word.

Jack shakes his head. His eyes are shuttered and dark. "He won't."

"How'd you know?" She presses the Doctor's hand to her chest and looks up at Jack.

Jack looks at the Doctor's face, bites his lip, and squares his shoulders.

"I don't. But I'll find out."

Rose blinks. "What? How?"

Jack lightly touches the Doctor's temple and sends her a grin full of bravado. "I'll go in there and check."

If his grin had been a little more convincing, she might just accept that, but… "Telepathy?"

"Time Agency Training."

"Said your telepathic powers weren't all that great."

"They aren't. But his are. Hard to miss a target the size of a planet."

"But… can you get in? Just like that?"

Jack shrugs. "If he lets me."

Rose frowns. "I haven't a clue 'bout telepathy, so – how dangerous is that? Don't want to end up with two unconscious lovers to worry about."

"You won't. Worst case scenario, I don't get in." He smiles.

Rose looks at him searchingly. She's almost sure he's lying. But a glance at the Doctor's pale, still form makes her decide to let it go. She steps closer and reaches up to fix Jack's face between her hands. "Be very, very careful." She pulls him into a worried, tender kiss. As they break apart, she adds, "If you get yourself hurt, I'll…" She can't think of a threat that'd have any relevance in that situation, so she glowers at him.

Jack smiles, and gently kisses her forehead. "I love you, too."

He pulls a chair closer to the Doctor's head and puts both hands on their lover's temples.

Rose stands behind Jack and puts her hands on his shoulders. "Can I do anything?"

A quick shake of his head. "Just make sure nothing breaks my physical contact with him."

Rose squeezes Jack's shoulders gently in confirmation, and drops a good-luck kiss on his hair.

Jack's shoulders tense. Rose bends forward and sees a look of intense concentration on his face. He frowns and squeezes his eyes shut.

A moment later, his features go slack.

*****

Jack approaches the outer barrier of the Doctor's mind. He perceives it as if he's walking towards a stone wall, which is a terribly clumsy image for such an approach. He didn't tell Rose, but it's not just that he's not a very strong telepath – barely average, by 51st century standards – he also never had much talent for controlling the meager power he has. His instructors had tried to get him to understand subtleties and finesse, but he knows well that his technique is ham-fisted at best.

If this man wasn't his lover, and if he wasn't so worried about him…

The closer he gets, the taller the wall becomes. It's more like a rock cliff now… a mountain chain… By the time he reaches it, it fills his entire field of vision. He gulps – another one of those graceless manifestations that a skilled telepath would not drag onto the mental plane – and reaches out with his mind – and, in his mind's eye, both hands – to touch it.

It's cool under his touch. Cool, and solid, and immovable.

"C'mon, it's me. It's Jack." He presses his entire body against the rock, trying his best to project his essential "Jackness," and his love for the Doctor, into the cold stone.

He doesn’t feel it happening, but suddenly the rock softens and he slips inside.

Inside!

Jack has to fight down terror. He's surrounded by what looks like solid rock on all sides. Not just surrounded – merged with it, part of it. He gasps for air, panics for a moment when he realizes he can't breathe, and sharply reminds himself that he doesn’t need to. His body is back in the medbay, safe and sound with Rose, breathing steadily.

He pushes forward, praying that the barrier will continue to allow him through. He's not sure what would happen if his mind got stuck here, but he'd rather not find out.

How thick _is_ this wall? Jack wonders if it's his skewed perspective, or if it's possible that the Doctor's defences alone have more depth than the average human mind.

After what seems like an eternity, he feels the rock… thinning. Somehow becoming lighter, less substantial. He takes a few more steps forwards and…

*****

Jack is screaming. Except it's not him, not really – he is still somewhere in the Doctor's mind, doing god knows what. But his body is yelling out in what sounds like agony, or abject horror. He's slumped forward, and Rose is bent over both him and the Doctor, desperately holding Jack's hands to the Doctor's temples. She's not sure if that's even the right thing to do, but Jack was very clear that breaking contact would be disastrous. And it's the only thing she can do, anyway.

"You are in so much trouble, Jack Harkness," she mumbles. "Just you wait till you get back into your body and I can get my hands on you properly."

Because that's the only outcome she's willing to consider.

*****

Pain. Cold. Rage. A black sky.

Jack is swept along by a hurricane, his body – _notmybody-notreallymybody-mybodyissafemybodyisokay_ – battered back and forth, hit by debris – was that a Dalek eyestalk? – and beaten up and down by air currents like a kite with a torn string.

What was he thinking? How could he ever think a less-than-mediocre human telepath had any business poking around in a _Time Lord's_ mind? He knew the Doctor's mind was vast and powerful and old and dangerous, but…

Where he imagined a crouched tiger, ready to strike, he's stumbled instead upon a beast so vast and ancient it predates names and descriptions.

He focuses his mental strength by clumsily convincing himself he's taking a deep breath, and screams at the top of his imaginary lungs, "Doctor!"

He screams his lover's name again and again. He keeps yelling even after his vocal cords give out – he's not sure what they represent, but he assumes it's some facet of his mental skills that he should have trained a whole lot more before taking it anywhere near a Time Lord mind.

 _The Doctor will never forgive himself if I die in here._

*****

Rose is sobbing. Her tears are covering Jack's neck and hair and the Doctor's chest. Jack's fading. She can tell. She's still holding his hands in place desperately, but she knows it's not enough. She's losing him. Maybe losing them both. If Jack dies while in the Doctor's mind, the Time Lord will blame himself. And that means he won't want her near anymore, either. Won't feel he deserves her. Maybe he'll even blame her for not stopping Jack.

"Doctor, help him, please!"

*****

A cold gust of wind catapults Jack high in the air. He braces himself for the inevitable fall.

A soft breeze surrounds him, and the world becomes still.

What is this? A sudden calm? The eye of the tornado? Or has the storm remained the same, and he just doesn’t feel it anymore because he's…

He feels – warmth. Not just physically – not that anything here is truly physical. But this feels like…

 _'S all right, lad. You're all right. I've got you._ The sky brightens to a light gray that seems radiant after the black night. Winds stroke Jack, heal the cuts, soothe the abrasions.

Jack's imagined body sags in relief – and is gently held, bedded on what feels like a cloud of warm, sweet air, a light breeze making him tingle with energy. He relaxes, focuses, tries to collect his senses and get his bearings. As soon as he regains the ability to communicate, he sends, "Thank you. I love you."

There's another warm breeze, and then a sudden cool one that makes him shiver. The sky darkens – not all the way back to black, but to a stormy gray. _What the hell were you thinking? Waltzing in here like this?"_

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have broken in like-"

There's a sound in the wind that's both chuckle and growl. _Broken in? You think you could breach my barriers?_

"So… you did let me in?"

 _Didn't know you were here, did I? Barrier runs on instinct. It didn't think to stop you._

Jack pauses. The Doctor's instinct was to let him in. He's not sure how to answer that.

He's relieved of the need when a cold blast of air – not painful, but unpleasant – hits the small of his back. _'S_ you _I'm worried about. If I hadn't found you when I did… You're not safe in here._

"Are you?"

The winds stop. Jack is still supported, but completely becalmed. For a moment, he feels terribly alone. But then the gale picks up again. It's colder than before, and some rain drops fall on Jack's head and shoulders.

He's still safe – now that the Doctor knows he's here, there's nothing to be afraid of anymore.

Except the Doctor. Jack can tell when he's in disgrace.

"I'm sorry. I just meant – Rose and I were worried. You've been out so long…"

 _How long?_

"When I came in, almost ten hours. Not sure how long ago that was."

A little puff of air plays up and down his body; it seems to be examining him. _Must have been a few hours._

A very warm breeze caresses Jack, then a cool one circles his neck, making him squirm.

 _Idiot._ The voice is like a summer breeze. _'S a healing trance. Ten hours is nothing. Will take a day or two, easily._

"Oh." He moves his hand, vaguely trying to touch the wind – he knows he could if he were a proper telepath. "I didn't know. Thought maybe the poison…"

 _I'll be fine. Almost got it filtered out of my system now. Will take a while to repair the damage to my organs yet, an' then a while longer to recover my strength. But there's nothing to worry about. Not the one in danger here, me._

Jack hangs his head. He knows the Time Lord is right. What he did was idiotic. He knew it was risky, but it wasn't until he made contact with the Doctor's mind that he realized how vast and dangerous it truly is. And how full of rage and pain.

He probably still hasn't even scratched the surface. He's luckier than he deserves to get out of this alive.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly.

"Well, then," the Doctor says, just as a piece of string dancing on the wind blows past Jack's ear in a way that… tickles.

He looks up, daring a smile. "Am I forgiven?"

There's an amused snort on the wind. _For now. But once I get control of my body back, you're-_

"- getting a spanking?" Jack asks with a hopeful grin.

A splash of cold rainwater goes right down his spine. He jumps and curses.

 _Hardly going to_ reward _you, am I? Was going to say, you're going to make up for this._ Tiny ripples of gray are playing across a white sky.

Jack grins. Being forgiven is his favorite part of screwing up.

 _Now, skedaddle. Get back in your own body before I show you some of my better tricks._

"Err…" Jack shuffles his feet. "Actually…"

The wind gets colder again, and there's a definite growl in it now. _Don't tell me you lost contact._

"Well… with all the being blown up and down… got a little turned around…" A death sentence in any telepathic accident. Lose contact with your body and it's over. But Jack is standing on thin air in the middle of a hurricane, warm and safe and cradled close to a consciousness so vast he can't even begin to comprehend it. He's not scared.

There's a long-suffering sigh. _Let's get you home, then._ He feels himself carried through the air – not blown about and tossed as he was before, but gently drifting along in a cloud of warmth.

 _Can you feel it from here?_

Jack sheepishly shakes his head.

The sky darkens. _You're not nearly good enough a telepath to even be trying this!_

"I know."

 _But when I'm through with you, you will be. Believe you me._

Is that going to be his punishment? Telepathy training? Jack groans, wondering if the Doctor has any idea how apt a choice that is. Of all the courses at the Academy, that was the one he could never get the hang of. The one blight on his otherwise perfect scoresheet.

 _Don't roll your eyes at me, lad. Especially since you don't even know where you left them._

They drift further, and then Jack can feel it – the soft call of his body, a deep-rooted instinct that tells him that _there_ is where his _here_ should be.

"Got it," he gets up and concentrates on moving in the right direction. "See you outside, Doc."

A grunt. _Make sure Rose is all right. Probably worried her sick with your idiocy._

Rose. Jack gulps. He's in so much trouble.

*****

Rose is lying on the bed – the TARDIS has made it wide enough for three; probably to help her keep Jack's hands in position. Jack is lying quietly now, even smiling – he calmed down a while ago. She was scared at first, though he might be dying, but it soon became clear that he was just settling into what looks like sleep.

She's spooned up behind Jack, across from the Doctor, making it easy for her to maintain contact.

When Jack opens his eyes, she squeals and kisses him. Then she smacks his shoulder. "What the bloody hell-"

He grimaces and presses a hand to his forehead, and she subsides.

"Are you okay?"

He nods. "Sort of. Feels like my head's going to explode. But I just need sleep." He looks at her, and one corner of his mouth curves upward. "Got a chewing out from himself already."

"How is he?"

"He'll be fine. Said we were just too impatient – apparently, this is supposed to take days."

"Oh." Oh no. It was her fretting as much as his own worry that made Jack decide to try to contact the Doctor. She puts her head on his shoulder. "Never scare me like that again."

"I'm sorry, Rose." He kisses her forehead. "How long was I gone?"

"Six hours." She yawns. Now that the danger has passed, the fear and exertion are catching up with her. She feels knackered. Worse than running, today was.

"Six…? God, Rose, you must have been so worried."

She snuggles closer. "Gonna sleep now, yeah? Chew you out when I'm more awake."

Jack chuckles. "Fair enough." His eyes drift shut. "Probably couldn't stay awake for it, anyway…"

*****

The telling off from Rose is bad. The one from the Doctor is worse.

But the make-up sex is more than worth it.

The End


End file.
